As soon as she reached home she made a boiled custard with two eggs and a pint of milk, in the following way: The eggs were whipped while the milk came near to the boiling-point. When that was reached, two heaped table-spoonfuls of sugar were added to the milk, and when dissolved it was poured to the eggs, stirring all the time. Both were then returned to the saucepan—which was set over the fire in a vessel or saucepan containing boiling water—and stirred. When the water in the under saucepan boiled round it, the custard was removed a few seconds, the stirring continuing all the time, and then it was returned. This was repeated till it was like thick cream. The object of removing it was this: The eggs must not boil or they will curdle; they must be _cooked_ or they will not thicken; if left in the boiling water they would boil; by removing every minute for a few seconds, you keep the custard at the boiling-point till it thickens, without running risk of its curdling. Frequently, in the fear of custard’s curdling, it is taken off the fire just at the boiling-point, and it remains thin, unless corn-starch has been first boiled with the milk; in the proportion of two eggs to the pint, corn-starch is not needed for moderately thick custards. When it was done it was set to get cold, and two bananas were cut into small pieces. While the cooking was going on, Molly got out the Madeleine cake, cut side slices from it the third of an inch thick, cut the dark crust off as thin as possible, and spread three of the slices with the lemon paste she had made yesterday. The other three she laid on these, sandwich-fashion. “Now, Marta, I’ll show you what I am going to do with my _fondant_ icing.” As she spoke she put a table-spoonful of it in a cup which she set in boiling water over the fire. “You see I stir this, because, if I simply left it to melt, it would go back to clear syrup; by stirring, it keeps opaque like cream. I do not let this get too hot, only just warm enough to run easily.” When it had reached the point of being like _double cream_ or molasses, she put the saucepan and cup on the table and added to it a few drops of vanilla and stirred it; then with a tea-spoon she iced each slice, pouring the _fondant_ on and spreading it, allowing it to run over the sides. “You see this icing cools as you do it, and it may happen in cold weather that it will cool before you finish (and if the candy has been boiled rather high, the same thing may happen any time); then you must dip a knife in boiling water, shake off the drops quickly and smooth with that; then you use the knife. Now if I had cochineal in the house I should have melted only half the quantity in this cup and half in another, and flavored one with rose, and added a very little coloring,—three or four drops,—and used it for half of these cakes; but as it is, I leave them all white.”